“It’s an excuse to make the paints. Look, Mister Archer, I don’t want to be rude, but would you just tell me what you want?”
“In good time. You are unlicensed, correct? That wasn’t a crown-blessed hit on that house?”
“It was a private commission.” The girl moved over to the table, keeping as much distance between them as possible. She set down the steaming kettle, and he noticed her left hand was wrapped in rags. An injury from falling out of the tree, perhaps? He hoped it wouldn’t impede her work.
“That’s just what I wanted to hear. And you aren’t bound to any of the landed gentry in these parts, are you? No fine sir has your loyalty?”
“I am no lord’s lackey.”
Archer grinned at the ferocity in her tone. “I think you’ll do nicely.”
“I won’t do anything until you tell me what this is about, Mister Archer.”
“It’s just Archer. And what are you called, Miss Painter?”
She paused for a beat. “Briar.”
“No family name?”
“No family.”
Silence thrummed between them as she lifted her eyes to meet his.
“As I said, I think you’ll do very nicely indeed.” He gave her a bright smile and spread his hands with a flourish. “Shall we talk business?”
Briar sighed. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
A few minutes later, Archer was settled in the single chair, resting his shiny black boot on his knee. The girl sat cross-legged on the narrow bed, her skirt tucked tightly around her legs. They sipped mint tea from clay cups while Archer explained the mission.
“Lord Barden, the lord and protector of this fair county, has a daughter, the lovely Lady Mae. Several weeks ago, Lady Mae was kidnapped while out riding her favorite pony. Lord Barden has, quite naturally, been frantic to discover his daughter’s whereabouts.”
“I heard something about that.” Briar shifted back to sit against the wall, resting her injured hand at her side. “She’s young, isn’t she?”
“Young and beautiful. It has caused quite a scandal.”
“Someone at the market said she was taken by bandits,” Briar said. “Brigands, like you.”
“There is no one like me,” Archer said with a wink.
Briar didn’t react. She seemed exceptionally guarded, on the verge of fight or flight. He couldn’t tell which.
“Market rumors may hint at the truth,” he said, “but they rarely paint a complete picture. I have it on good authority that the lady fair was taken by none other than Lord Jasper Larke of the neighboring county.”
“Larke and Barden have been squabbling for years.”
“So they have,” Archer said. “It got so bad a few years ago, the king decreed they must settle their differences or forfeit their lands and titles. No threat is worse to a lord than the loss of his title.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Briar said.
“Of course not.” Archer glanced around the hovel. The girl had to want to improve her circumstances. She couldn’t help but agree to do the job. Hope flared in his chest for the first time since his return to Barden County.
“The two lords have continued to fight since the king’s decree, but they’ve kept it quiet. Their animosity festers in secret. Lord Larke dealt an unforgivable blow to Lord Barden when he captured Barden’s daughter. Barden can’t go to the king because he’d risk losing his lands—which would apparently be worse than losing his daughter, but I’m not here to judge—and so he has turned to other means to retrieve Lady Mae.”
Briar’s forehead wrinkled in a frown. “He hired you to steal her back?”
“Close. He is discreetly offering a reward for her safe return, with a bonus if it can be done without attracting the ire of the king. I intend to collect both the reward and the bonus.”
“What makes you think you can do it?”
Archer coughed, trying not to be offended. He had worked up something of a reputation over the past few years, but she didn’t seem remotely impressed by him.
“Lady Mae is imprisoned in a tower in Larke Castle up by Shortfall Lake.” He waved vaguely toward the north. “I happen to employ someone who used to work in that castle. We have a better chance of retrieving her than most.”
“And where do I come in?” Briar asked. “You want me to knock down this tower?”
“That wouldn’t do our captive lady much good, would it? We have to bring her back alive to collect the reward.”
“And the bonus.”
“Exactly.” Archer tapped his fingers on his knee. “The tower presents … challenges. The spells of a powerful mage guard its walls, and I believe only someone with exceptional strength can break through its protections.”
Briar pursed her lips. “So, you want me to travel to the other side of Larke County and help you destroy these spells to rescue a damsel from a tower without hurting the tower too badly? Unravelling someone else’s magic is not a simple task.”
“You would be well paid.” Archer straightened, pausing for effect. “I can offer you one hundred crowns.”
She didn’t even blink at the extravagant amount, one that should have made a girl in her circumstances stand up and sing. “I’ll have to decline,” she said briskly. “I’m sure you can find a more suitable curse painter for the job.”
“I doubt that. I need someone with both finesse and power. I’d heard a curse painter in these parts had the former, and I’ve seen the latter with my own eyes.”
Briar tipped back her cup to drain her tea, partially hiding her face. Her cheeks had gone a little pink, as if she were embarrassed by her power. He couldn’t imagine why.
“Thank you, but no.”
“All right then.” Archer shifted in his seat and—though it pained him a little—asked, “How much do you want?”
She set the empty teacup in her lap and rested a hand on her lumpy pillow.
“It’s not about the money. I only work for honest men these days, Mister Archer.”
“I am an honest man!”
